Drumkit and project saving time

Hi all !
I've bought yesterday a new MPC Key 61 and while I find the instrument to be very creative, I am a bit confused about a couple of aspects.

The O.S. Version is: 2.11.0 .

First, I don't have all the plug-ins that are advertised on the product page (at least, I understand that there should be 25). Precisely the display shows only 17 plug-ins.
The first question is: what should be done in order to have the missing plug-ins and what are the steps to load them into the keyboard ?

About drumkits. I can browse through drumkits and load one of it in an empty project. It loads lots of audio files and takes quite a while before I can play again with the keyboard. Is that normal ?

About saving a project. Once loaded a whole drumkit, and entered some note for a couple of plug-ins, I want to save the project. The saving process takes really a long time to execute. I can see on the display how every single drumkit sample is saved. I thought that only "links" to the samples are saved but sadly this is not the case.
When I then browse inside the directory of my project - usally on the "Internal" directory of the keyboard - I find a pletora of audio files.

The question: is that normal ? Why is it so ? I'm quite disappointed of the saving time I have to wait before getting the keyboard ready again. Fact is, I usually save a project more times during my workflow, and this saving time is a creativity killer I tell you.

Don't get me wrong, I find the keyboard really cool, but having to wait so much for saving a project and/or loading a drumkit is a no-go for me.

And last but not least: from an empty project I' ve loaded two plug-ins, a Fabric XL and a String, and after some sequencing I get a "memory full" warning. Why does it happens ? Are the two plug-ins resource-heavy ?

Any help would be greatly appreciated !

Best regards,
Sergio

First, update to 2.11.3, this is the latest firmware with bug fixes.

Drumsynth is strictly speaking 9 plugins (each instrument has its own plugin, plus the multi), so that's where the 25 come from. But 25 claim is a bit naughty, especially when Fabric is also not really 4 plugins, it's one plugin artificially split into 4 (they all use the same sound content folder).

Loading any sample based program is going to take some time, it depends on the size of the samples and the number of samples, the MPC browser is very inefficient (regardless of the speed of the source disk).

Projects save a copy of the original sound file, as has always been the MPC way for the past 25 years, so that is unlikely to change. Hence your original files remain independent of the copies you use in your project, which has its own benefits over the referencing method used in other systems. However, once the project is saved, the MPC should not re-save those samples unless they have been subsequently edited. But even if no samples are re-saved, it will take a few seconds to save the project.

Regarding your memory problem, a single instance each of Fabric XL and Studio Strings will not fill your memory in a completely blank project. So did you start this project via the 'new project' option in menu, or did you delete the samples from an existing project? If so, remember to 'purge' (MENU > PROJECT > PURGE).

Thank you MPC-Tutor for you kind reply and hints.
I'll follow your suggestion and install the 2.11.3 asap.
I've seen in a video using the "assign samples" for a drumkit. A simple drumkit was used, and there were less files to load. Maybe that's the way to create a smaller drumkit instead of a big one ?
Regarding the "memory full" warning, I'll check it again with a fresh empty project.

If I understand correctly also, counting the DrumSynth like 9 plug-ins, all the (25) plug-ins are then included.

Many thanks again and have a nice day,
Sergio

I don't have a mpc keys 61, but on my One before you save project there also is the option to purge, which means it will remove all of the nonused samples from your memory. Doing this could also save you some time.

Christov wrote:I don't have a mpc keys 61, but on my One before you save project there also is the option to purge, which means it will remove all of the nonused samples from your memory. Doing this could also save you some time.

Worth noting with purge unused samples .....

A sample is considered as used if it resides within any program that is used in the project, even if the sample itself isn't actually used. So if you have a drum program with 20 samples in it, kick, snare etc, and you are only using the kick sample, ALL the samples within that drum program are considered as used and all 20 will be saved .

What I generally do, if only using 1 or 2 samples from a drum program, is copy the used samples to a new program, omitting all the samples I'm not using

Christov wrote:I don't have a mpc keys 61, but on my One before you save project there also is the option to purge, which means it will remove all of the nonused samples from your memory. Doing this could also save you some time.

Thank you Christov, I'll definately check it out !

BostonGreen wrote:

Christov wrote:I don't have a mpc keys 61, but on my One before you save project there also is the option to purge, which means it will remove all of the nonused samples from your memory. Doing this could also save you some time.

Worth noting with purge unused samples .....

A sample is considered as used if it resides within any program that is used in the project, even if the sample itself isn't actually used. So if you have a drum program with 20 samples in it, kick, snare etc, and you are only using the kick sample, ALL the samples within that drum program are considered as used and all 20 will be saved .

What I generally do, if only using 1 or 2 samples from a drum program, is copy the used samples to a new program, omitting all the samples I'm not using

Ah, good to know, that's could really save time indeed !
I have only to figure out the way to do that (copy the used samples to a new program) and of course get rid of the other program with all the samples..
You see, I'm really new to the MPC-Ecosystem, and I have a lot to learn..

Take care,
Sergio

semar wrote:
Ah, good to know, that's could really save time indeed !
I have only to figure out the way to do that (copy the used samples to a new program) and of course get rid of the other program with all the samples..
You see, I'm really new to the MPC-Ecosystem, and I have a lot to learn..

Take care,
Sergio

There are a few ways, in main view, create a new program and click on 'assign samples', locate the sample and add it to the new program

semar wrote:You see, I'm really new to the MPC-Ecosystem, and I have a lot to learn..

Take care,
Sergio

It really is worth buying the MPC Bible, it'll get you up to speed in no time

BostonGreen wrote:
There are a few ways, in main view, create a new program and click on 'assign samples', locate the sample and add it to the new program

Mille grazie (thousand thanks) BostonGreen. I'll try it. I'll also try to find out, once done, how to get rid of the other program, the one which contains all the (unwanted) samples.

Regards,
Sergio

BostonGreen wrote:
It really is worth buying the MPC Bible, it'll get you up to speed in no time

I'm right now considering to buy it.. it seems that the author has done a really god job ! I guess that the MPC Bible is mostly compatible with the MPC Key 61 - at least I hope so !

By the way. Nice and helpful community here

Yes, the MPC Bible is fully compatible with the MPC Key 61.

Just buyed
It seems really really good !!

semar wrote:

BostonGreen wrote:
There are a few ways, in main view, create a new program and click on 'assign samples', locate the sample and add it to the new program

Mille grazie (thousand thanks) BostonGreen. I'll try it. I'll also try to find out, once done, how to get rid of the other program, the one which contains all the (unwanted) samples.

Regards,
Sergio

main view, bottom right pencil icon, hit delete

BostonGreen wrote:main view, bottom right pencil icon, hit delete

Perfect, thank you BostonGreen !